|
|
| www.1001TopWords.com |
|
|
Voice Coaching - Training Your Voice to Give Better Presentations
Picture a cool crisp autumn morning in the wide open farming lands in the Great Southern region of Western Australia at Wagin, home of the annual Wagin Woolarama and Giant Ram. Imagine a white metal caravan with brown carpet on the inside walls fitted out as a outside broadcast van on a dusty, damp road by the edge of a large green football oval. The smell of freshly cooked donuts wafts past as the crowds start to fill the arena. A middle aged lady, who has that look of a lifetime spent outdoors approaches the van. "I'm looking for Tom Murrell," she asks. "I'm Tom," is the reply. "No, I'm looking for Tom Murrell, the ABC manager in charge of all the radio stations," she asks more firmly and abruptly. "That's me." "No it can't be! I imagined someone with grey hair in a grey suit!" At the ripe of old age of 28 years, I was appointed a senior executive with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), in charge of one of the world's largest radio networks covering an area of some 2.5 million square kilometres. Admittedly, I was the ABC's youngest ever person to be appointed to this position and probably looked even younger than my age. I tell this story not to impress you, but to impress upon you the personal power of your voice and how it helps shape and create an image of who you are in other people's minds. You see this lady had only heard me on radio, as a broadcaster, and because of the anonymity of radio she had never seen me but had formed a mental picture of what I looked like. The benefit of having a good voice is you have more authority, credibility and power. With this comes more influence. This is especially important when using a microphone or speaking over the telephone. According to experts your voice is at its most naked over the phone or on radio. Speech experts say its like putting your lips to someone's ear and gives new meaning to the term lend me your ears! When you're on the phone, giving a speech with a microphone or on radio all the nuances of your voice are amplified. Most people dislike the sound of their own voices because when they hear it being played back it sounds different to what we hear inside our heads. The power of a good clear voice is often highlighted in the cut and thrust of politics. One of the most successful Australian politicians who understood this was Bob Carr who, after 17 years in New South Wales politics, retired last month as that State's longest serving Premier. The son of a train driver was self-made and grew-up on a diet of "books, knowledge and learning". Part of the Labor leader's success was the training he received on how to use his voice as a radio current affairs broadcaster early in his career at the ABC. If you want a powerful voice in any situation, here's what you can learn from the vocal skills of Bob Carr. 1. Authority An authoritative voice comes from self-confidence. This is a learned behaviour. No matter what your natural voice sounds like, you can learn to develop authority in your voice. 2. Clarity A clear voice is easily understood and people are more likely to act on your ideas and instructions if your voice is clear. Good radio broadcasters and powerful communicators such as Bill Clinton work on their clarity through vocal exercises, involving diction, pause and pace. 3. Personal Power Referent power comes from a position of power. Expert power comes from unique knowledge. An authoritative voice gives you personal power. Bob Carr had all three. 4. Maturity A mature voice has more influence. Again, no matter what your experience, you can learn how to have more maturity in your voice. 5. Ageless Voices can sound ageless as my Wagin story highlights. Often the age of the person with an ageless voice will be in the mind of the listener. Thomas Murrell MBA CSP is an international business speaker, consultant and award-winning broadcaster. Media Motivators is his regular electronic magazine read by 7,000 professionals in 15 different countries.You can subscribe by visiting http://www.8mmedia.com. Thomas can be contacted directly at +6189388 6888 and is available to speak to your conference, seminar or event. Visit Tom's blog at http://www.8mmedia.blogspot.com
|
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
10 Worst Tips To Give A Speaker 1. Learn the speech by heart or read it from a script. For Speaking Ease, Forgive Your Younger Self I love the Disney movie The Kid with Bruce Willis. In it he plays a stressed-out, high-power image consultant. He wears expensive suits, lives in a chic, elegantly furnished home and has all the money he can spend. His biggest challenge comes when a young boy--his younger self--comes to stay with him. He doesn't recognize himself at first, but then comes to see that he can heal himself by comforting the boy he was and accepting the man he is. (Don't worry, there's still a lot of other fun, surprising stuff that happens so I haven't TOTALLY given the plot away.) Be a Guest Speaker and Attract Business Being a guest speaker in front of the right audience can be an excellent way to attract new business. Many clubs, organizations, conventions, and trade shows seek guest speakers who can provide useful information to their audience. The opportunity to speak in front of an attentive group can certainly boost your business, whether you are a service or product provider. Public Speaking Tips: Lessons From Former US President Ronald Reagan If you want public speaking tips, what are the ten insights you can learn from former US President Ronald Reagan who was known as 'The Great Communicator'. How To Write Powerful Presentations, Speeches And Talks Most of us get nervous about making a speech, whether it's to 2000 convention delegates or a PTA meeting at our child's school. Often, though, people find that's the worst part of the whole process - the anticipation. The reality is often a lot easier to handle and can even be quite enjoyable, provided that you take the necessary precaution of doing your homework beforehand - preparation. Public Speaking:10 Simple Steps to Confident Speaking 1.Preparation Get Speaking On a recent Sunday evening, I watched a friend 'graduate' from a beginner's class for stand-up comedians. A Perfect Meeting: AKA When You Dont Want to Strangle the Speaker Have you ever worked for weeks or even months, often far beyond normal office hours on a special meeting event only to have it turn into THE PERFECT STORM. Well, maybe your entire crew didn't perish at sea, but there were those clearly identifiable moments when it looked as if the ship was about to capsize. Although many meeting goblins can contribute to such disasters, sometimes the speaker can be one of the contributing causes. How can such terrors be avoided? Making Transitions Ever notice how smoothly some speakers or writers move you through their speech or memo? It seems they effortlessly take you from start to finish without making you strain to follow. Make Your Talks Pay: Have People Stand In Line Eager Give You Their Business Card If you've ever been on stage, doing a talk or presentation then you'll know how often this happens... Speech Writing Tips: The 14 Speech Writing Secrets of President Bill Clinton Speaking in public can be a powerful way to build a business. It can help raise the profile of your business, generate new leads and create greater profits. But speaking in public can be nerve wracking and seriously stressful for first timers. Writing a speech can be a major challenge, especially for technical writers. Moving Key Audiences to Take Action? You know, those really important outside groups of people whose behaviors can help or hinder any business, non-profit or association manager in achieving his or her objectives? Are you persuading those key stakeholders ? especially those whose behaviors affect your unit the MOST ? to your way of thinking, then moving them to take actions that help your department, division or subsidiary succeed? Speaker Partnership Offers Trade Show Value Want to gain added exposure at a trade show? Consider sponsoring a professional speaker at the attendees meeting. But don't just settle for a banner on the stage with your company name. There's much more leverage you can get from a top flight professional speaker. How To Handle Audience Questions Effectively For some reason, the prospect of having to answer audience questions fills many presenters with dread and fear. Looking at it in a positive way however, it's an ideal opportunity for you to satisfy the audience further, and you can continue to drive your main points home adding emphasis to your talk. Shortcuts to Eloquence You have probably had the experience of listening to a speaker who, even if you did not agree with that person's message, caused you to think, "this is an outstanding speaker." That speaker was probably using certain rhetorical devices that touched an internal chord, that made him or her sound eloquent. How To Make A Blue Ribbon Presentation Every Time You can make a Blue Ribbon presentation each and every time if you follow these 14 rules. Speaking On Your Feet Your ability to communicate effectively will account for most of your success in life. As we move farther into the communication age, we are becoming more and more dependant on being able to communicate and interact effectively with others. Your ability to interact with other people effectively will determine your success far more than your level of skills in any field. 13 Publicity Tips for Professional Speakers In a funk because other speakers seem to be snagging all the media attention? It's time to start claiming your share. Here are a baker's dozen of tips that will boost your publicity efforts and help you finally get noticed. Giving Your Audience Great Benefits What benefit do you provide the audience? Public Speaking for Scaredy Cats Business communications researchers have studied the phenomenon of stage fright experienced by would-be public speakers. Let me summarize most of the findings in very down-to-earth terms: Most people would rather die than stand up before an audience and deliver a speech.
|
| © Athifea Distribution LLC - 2013 |
